British troops arrive in Macedonia

British paratroopers arrived in Macedonia this morning to begin a difficult mission to avert the fifth Balkans war in a decade. The 90 troops, from 16 Air Assault Brigade, arrived in Skopje to form part of Operation Essential Harvest, which will collect arms from Albanian rebels.

Troop movements began soon after Nato's formal decision on Wednesday to proceed with the mission. The British contingent will number at least 1,800 ­ over half of the 3,500 total ­ but could rise as high as 2,000, as other Nato countries have not been able to provide the necessary specialist troops.

These include signallers, engineers, chefs, and medics, as well as reconnaissance troops.

Operation Essential Harvest is limited to the collection of voluntarily surrendered weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels, and is slated to last 30 days from next week.

The operation was authorised despite the fact that there is little sign of the lasting ceasefire that Nato said was a precondition for sending the full task force. Fighting has continued on an almost daily basis.

"There are risks involved ... we recognise that," the Nato secretary-general, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, said yesterday. "(But) members of the alliance have agreed to send their troops because they know the risks of not sending them are far greater."

No one was in any doubt what he was talking about. Unless a Western-brokered peace deal can be made to hold, there are fears of civil war between the ethnic Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority.

British liaison officers from an advance party were already at work near the front line in the main Albanian city of Tetovo yesterday, establishing contact with both the rebels and Macedonian security forces. Four hundred British advance troops had already arrived, with up to 700 paratroopers on their way. The final force will include up to 1,800 British soldiers - half the 3,500 total.

The presence of Nato troops seemed to have calmed Tetovo yesterday. Two jeeps full of British soldiers drove casually past the Macedonian sniper position outside Tetovo stadium, which marks the division of territory. Only a day before, local drivers still raced nervously along this road lined with burned-out houses.

But there were still signs of tension. Rebel sources claimed the Macedonian army had begun moving large numbers of troops into the Tetovo area in armoured personnel carriers. A press conference by the rebels' leader, Ali Ahmeti, was abruptly cancelled and Sipkovica was closed off to reporters. No reason was given.

Nato insists its troops will not act as peacekeepers, or even forcibly disarm the rebels. They are coming here only to collect weapons voluntarily surrendered by the rebels, and in the next few days they will set up weapons collection centres around the country.

But the scale of their task became clear yesterday when the Nato task force's commander, the Danish General, Gunnar Lange, said he had intelligence reports that new shipments of weapons were already on their way to the rebels from Kosovo.

Exactly how many weapons Nato troops will be collecting remains contentious. The rebels say they have a total of 2,000. The Macedonian Interior Ministry yesterday claimed the rebels have 85,000.

Many observers doubt weapons collections will be enough to avert further bloodshed in Macedonia. Even some inside Nato privately admit that it makes no military sense and is a purely political gesture.

The rebels have agreed to disarm after the Macedonian government agreed to concessions to the Albanian minority in a Western-brokered peace deal. But nobody expects the rebels to hand over everything they have – running the risk that the Macedonian side will renege on the peace deal and attack them.

Nato's mission is supposed to last only 30 days once weapons collections begin, but many were yesterday warning the Alliance may find itself in the country for longer. A series of incidents, including the killing of Albanian civilians by Macedonian police and the destruction of an important Macedonian church, have coincided suspiciously with key moments in the peace process.

One rebel commander was gloomy about the prospects yesterday. "I will have to go and live in exile in Kosovo," Commander Luli said. "We made this deal for the civilians, for the children, so they will have a better future. But there is no way they will let me live in peace in this country now."